The Long Dark passes one million sales and lands a movie deal

Excellent survival game The Long Dark is getting the first two episodes of its long-awaited story mode today. Named ‘Do Not Go Gentle’ and ‘Luminance Fugue’, episodes one and two centre on bush pilot Will Mackenzie and his passenger, Dr. Astrid Greenwood, as they trek across the permafrost.

That story mode releases as the game leaves Early Access today, August 1, in just a couple of hours: 16:00 BST, 8:00 PDT. There should be plenty of people looking forward to that launch, too, since the game has surpassed 1.3 million sales, according to an announcement from developers Hinterland Games, via GIBiz.

It’s probably that sales success that attracted the attention of Hollywood, as there’s also a movie in the works. It’s the law that every videogame must have a film these days, after all.

The script for the movie will be handled by Raphael van Lierop, founder of Hinterland Games. It’s being helped along by Resident Evil producer Jeremy Bolt, so there’s a good chance it’ll get made.

“My goal with Hinterland – starting with The Long Dark – has always been to create original entertainment properties that could span multiple mediums, exploiting the storytelling potential of each form,” van Lierop told GIBiz. “Partnering with Jeremy on this project is the first step in achieving that vision of true cross-platform storytelling in the world of The Long Dark.”

The movie will be a post-apocalyptic survival tale with echoes of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, albeit with a Canadian twist. For a taste of what to expect, check out Elegy, a short film to tease how The Long Dark would transition to live action, at the top of the page.